Chapter 61 Reporting Lily
Mia thought it over and felt the idea her manager gave her was excellent. She immediately called Lily.
For anyone in the entertainment industry, the biggest problem is a lack of attention, and sparking controversial topics and public debate is the most direct way to get attention from netizens.
Lily had spoken up for Mia online several times before, and the two were affectionately referred to as 'sisters' by netizens.
Lily had previously gained significant attention and public goodwill by supporting Mia, as netizens viewed her as genuine.
When Mia mentioned the idea, Lily immediately understood. "I know exactly what to do. I have a press conference tomorrow anyway. I'll arrange for someone to ask a specific question during the interview, and then I'll speak up for you."
Mia liked the sound of that. "Great, I'll wait for your good news."
The next day, during the press conference, Lily was asked by a reporter if anything was currently bothering her.
Lily replied in front of the cameras, "My life has been quite fulfilling recently.
My parents love me, my fans support me, I work hard when I have a job, and I enjoy life when I don't. I'm quite happy. "
The reporter pressed, "Quite happy?"
"Yes. Because I have friends, of course. When my good friends are happy, I'm happy, and when my good friends are upset, I naturally feel upset too."
The interview video quickly circulated. Lily was also a popular actress in the entertainment circle. When fans and media saw the exchange between Lily and the reporter, they couldn't help but start digging.
Lily had only a few close friends in the industry, and the one she was closest to was Mia. Mia's recent TV drama, 'The Spring Palace' was a huge hit, so she should be riding a wave of good fortune. It didn't seem like she had anything upsetting going on...
Wait!
Mia was about to join the cast of the reality show '30 Days of Survival', and one of the other cast members was Kendall, who had always been at odds with her!
When media outlets encountered Mia downstairs at her company, they immediately surrounded her, asking for her thoughts on joining the '30 Days of Survival', cast and whether her and Kendall's simultaneous casting was pre-arranged.
Mia's expression was quite revealing. "I feel incredibly honoured to participate in this program and I'm looking forward to it. However, I didn't know Kendall was in it until the program officially announced the cast."
After the two interview videos were exposed, Mia's fans felt their idol was being bullied. They swarmed the official TikTok account for the '30 Days of Survival' program, mocking and cursing the production team, accusing them of being money-hungry and conspiring with Kendall to bully Mia.
All sorts of ugly words poured in, and it seemed they wouldn't stop until the program replaced Kendall.
The program staff in the background were stunned by the flood of abusive direct messages and quickly reported the situation to their superiors.
Sean, the director of '30 Days of Survival' program, couldn't help but say to producer Simon next to him,
"See? Out of everyone you could have chosen, you insisted on contacting Kendall. Now we're getting yelled at every day."
Simon sat on the sofa, looking calm, his handsome face utterly unconcerned. "Let them yell. When the show airs, they'll still watch with gusto."
Sean thought for a moment and asked, "The criticism was intense when the cast was announced, but it quieted down. Why did it suddenly get so fierce again?"
A staff member glanced at the two men and cautiously replied, "It seems... it's because of the interview with Lily and Mia."
After the staff member left, Simon picked up his phone and soon smiled. The tactics in the entertainment industry were always the same. He was already bored of them. Moreover, Mia's marketing this time wasn't particularly clever.
Sean was also curious. "Mia has been using public opinion to influence everyone's impression of Kendall multiple times now. Why is a popular celebrity like her so relentlessly focused on discrediting Kendall?"
According to their investigation, Kendall was just a regular person who had briefly stayed at the Hansen family's home.
"Interesting," Simon tossed his phone aside.
His keen intuition told him that if this program was done well, it would absolutely become a huge hit.
"Find someone to contact the Sinclair Group and tell them I agree to the terms they proposed."
Simon's words shocked Sean. "Are you, are you really going to use... that kind of live streaming method?"
"What's wrong with immersive live streaming?" Simon glanced at him. "This is a secret between you and me. We can't let a third person know for now."
"But... no program has ever used this kind of live streaming before," Sean worried. "What if there's an accident... or if the celebrities mess up while live streaming..."
"Since the Sinclair Group dares to offer this set of equipment, it has certainly passed national safety standards. No other program has done this, which is precisely why we should be the first to try it." Simon said, smiling indifferently.
"Besides, it's not the first time a celebrity has made a mistake on a program. What's the fun in watching the cast perform if they know they're being live streamed? If they want to be in this business, they have to withstand the audience's scrutiny."
Although Simon was just a program producer, he actually hailed from an influential family, making him a force few dared to provoke. This was the source of Simon's confidence.
Hearing Simon's words, and recalling the holographic equipment the Sinclair Group had developed but not yet publicly released,
Sean felt a surge of excitement. "Fine! Let's do it! I'll contact the Sinclair Group and see what they say." Simon nodded slightly, agreeing with Sean.
———
Kendall was playing on her computer at home when she saw Lily's interview.
She didn't need to check to know that Lily was indirectly defending Mia while subtly implying things about her. As Mia's close friend, Lily had frequently helped Mia slander her reputation. In fact, Lily was responsible for a small part of Kendall's current poor online reputation.
Looking at the glamorous, beautiful-faced Lily on camera, Kendall was reminded of the third task the system had issued, Lily's tax evasion of $98.6 million.
Kendall hadn't completed this task yet. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but gathering the evidence required time, and couldn't be rushed.
Kendall had been searching for evidence of Lily's tax evasion for several days.
During her intensive search, she discovered that someone had actually exposed Lily's tax evasion online two months prior, but the post hadn't gained much traction.
Kendall privately messaged the poster yesterday, but the person was very cautious and didn't reply.
Kendall wasn't discouraged.
She had someone look into the list of recent resignations from Lily's studio and found that a financial officer had quit two months ago.
The financial officer held a vital key to the company's inner workings.
If there were false accounts, the financial officer would absolutely be the second person to know everything, after the boss.
After discovering that Lily's studio's current financial officer was her cousin, who had only recently graduated from college, Kendall immediately sensed that something unspoken might be occurring.
Kendall spent a great deal of effort and finally obtained the contact information for the former financial officer. She also learned that this person had a sick son. Kendall transferred 50,000 dollars for medical expenses, which was a secret code the poster had left in their original post.
Kendall guessed the person's identity and transferred the money. The person accepted it and, without hesitation, handed over the evidence to Kendall.
Kendall opened the files and had the system scan them. "Are these documents real?"
> [They are real.]
With the evidence in hand, Kendall opened the official website for reporting tax evasion and filed a report under her real name.
As Kendall finished filling out and submitting all the information, the system's voice echoed in her mind while the submission page showed 'under review'.
> [Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission, reporting Lily's tax evasion! Reward: +12 days of life value.]
(End of Chapter)